Cocoabean

Hi everyone! Note to self, artichokes are NOT band friendly! Owie! Anne, sorry you did not get a band. But better that than all sorts of complications! If I were to lose my band, I'd be willing to get GB. I know it is drastic, but so is obesity. I don't know much about the sleeve. Just that my insurance doesn't cover it, yet. Bob! Welcome back! Congrats on your losses!

My surgeon weighs with clothes on, but shoes off. I have read of some who take weights with the patient in a gown. Make your appointment later in the day, you will be heavier. Wear jeans and a sweater, too, if you are allowed to weigh in clothes, might as well go for it! Best wishes!

Mine states greater than 40 or 35 to 40 with 2 comorbidities. Your plan brochure should be pretty straightforward. Insurance Programs has the plan brochures for 2010.

Yay, Karen!!!! Very happy for the news! Leigha, no fun, I feel for you, wah. I hope everything goes ok. I am home and back to work, blah. And I am still a quart low, BP rarely over 100. What fun, but Sedona was beautiful!! Anne, keep up the good work, you are getting closer!!!!

Oh yes. Every day in Bandland is different. One day I am swearing I have lost all my fill, the next day I get stuck on something. I quit trying to figure it out, and just go with it. Follow your rules and eat right. It is a journey, that is for certain.

Hi kizzbit, Welcome! This is a great place for support and info!

Welcome Jason! Nice to have a partner with you through this journey. This is a fantastic place to be for support.

I Am not sure where the dr. Was first, but a google search showed Dr. M. To be here: Dr. Yohannes Mahtemework D.O. Surgery 7531 113th St Apt 2C Forest Hills , NY - 11375 240-353-8665 I'd not be surprised at them not telling you where he went if left their practice. As to you not feeling restriction yet, try not to compare yourself to others. Keep getting fills. The more you have in your band, the less fill it takes to be noticeable. Best wishes to you!

All scales are poopy heads! Go by only one scale. The way clothes fit is the best guide, while the scale is the quickest feedback. Scales are good for trends, but don't set your mood by what you see.

Chicken or turkey breast meat. Bagels and soft breads. Sometimes hamburger. Anything that I don't chew properly.

Welcome Ron and Katie! Glad to have you here. Sedona is beautiful. We are having a blast with my sister and brother-in-law. My fur-niece and Butters are doing great together! Butters' private lessons paid off! My pressure is still very low. Any one know how the vagus nerve is affected by the band, and how that can affect pressure? This is crazy. Well hopefully tomorrow will bring higher blood pressure!

I went with my PCP's choice. He said he was who he would choose for himself. In fact, he did about a year after my surgery he had gastric bypass done by my surgeon. I'd hope your PCP would be open to referring you elsewhere if you do not like his first choice. I had a choice of two in my HMO, but liked my PCP's first choice so well I stuck with him. I went to my surgeon's info seminar before my appeal was done. His are free. My hubby came with me. We both really liked him, so I was very happy when I won the appeal! It sounds like you have all your ducks in a row. I also mentioned in my letter that I want the surgery so that I can have a relatively normal life, and take part in daily activities with my family. I spoke about how obesity affects the quality of my life and limits my activities. The package I submitted was probably 15-20 pages. It was a lot of work to put together, but very worth the effort! Keep us posted!!!!

Hey everyone. I am on I40 heading for Kingman, AZ. Yesterday was interesting Got stuck on a croissant. I know, not the most band friendly, slimed and urped for an hour. Ugh. So today feeling very tight. But my pressure was 104/70!!! A record for me lately! I will be meeting up with my sister and her husband in Sedona later today, yay! Karen, you will get iPad before I get BB. I live in ignorant bliss of my lack of calories burned. And there are far too many iPad accessories I NEED! Like a 12 volt charger for use on the road!!! Congrats on breaking the plateau!!!! OH!! NSV Alert!!! I caught sight of myself in a mirror yesterday when I wasn't really expecting it and was surprised to see the skinny chick looking back at meI I think this latest issue has caused either more loss or a redistribution, because I looked different. Anyway, sorry for typos, still adjusting to this keyboard! Take care everyone!!

Hey Everyone! Lena and Katie, welcome!! Bobbie, congrats!! Anne, keep up the good work on the pre-op. Betsy, have fun with the BB. Leigha, I agree, the ipad was a total gratuitous purchase, and I LOVE it! I am navigating us with it and having a blast. The BB is the thing that is NOT for me. Karen won't influence me that far! tee hee. You should see me here right now. We are in Laughlin, Nevada. I packed 2 laptops (work and personal), ipad, external hardrive (holds my itunes), 2 cellphones (work and personal), one ipod, a dog, a husband, and a partridge in a pear tree! What a dork I am! Shad, thanks for the good wishes. My BP today was 93/60. Woohoo! I guess I don't have to worry about a stroke! :biggrin: Ok, ipad is loaded, it's about time for bed! Catch you all later. To all those I missed, sorry!!!!

I also pointed out that the in 1991 the National Institutes of Health wrote a Consensus on Gastrointestinal Surgery for Severe Obesity that did not include a 6 month requirement for candidates for surgery. Do an internet search for the document and include it with your appeal. But it sounds to me like you already have the diet aspect covered. What a pain in the patootey!

My denial was from the medical group, too. I won the appeal on first try. My PCP said a denial by that group is standard. BCBS approved me with no problem! Best wishes!

BOTTOM! Ha! Had to laugh at that one! Tee hee! I got my iPad! On the highway as I type! What fun. it is all Karen's fault.

Hi Everyone, I've been sort-of hiding out for a while. Sorry about that. Been reading, but not really posting. I haven't been feeling the best...but not because of the band. Happy to see everyone is doing well!! :crying: Anne--Yay on the pre-op! Well, y'all know I was very sick last month. This seemed to be improving on the back side, although my blood pressure has still been low, around 90/60. When I was on my way to DC last week, the diarrhea started up again, ON THE AIRPLANE. Ugh! The first culture they were SUPPOSED to be doing from the day I went to urgent care last month wasn't run for some reason. After I'd been on the meds a few days, they ran it again, and it was negative. So, they have no idea if what caused it was actually a c.diff. infection or not. So, I had problems all last week in DC, things are calming down now, BP is still low. I saw my PCP today for a follow-up. He referred me to a GI doc. He thinks a colonoscopy is in my very near future...oh yay! Also, today I am having a Holter Monitor run, which is a 24 hour heart monitor, to try to figure out why I have been trying to pass-out over the past months. So, I am standing here at my kitchen counter, since when I tried to pass out, I had been standing for 30 minutes or so before my BP dropped suddenly. Of course, nada so far! So, basically, I am a mess! Sheesh! Doc thinks the passing out is something to do with the weight loss, he says he sees it in his weight loss patients. Seems some of us have problems maintaining pressure while standing.... As to the other issue. The Big D...he says he thinks one of 3 things. Still getting over c.diff. if that is what it was. Auto-immune problems, which run in my family, but I am rather old for it to present now. Or irritable bowel sydrome. Yippee. A 4th unlikely thought he had was an allergic reaction to something. The only thing I can think of is the Protein shakes I use. But I don't use them daily. And did not use them at all when I was REALLY sick. But I am going to eliminate them for a time and see if it makes a difference. I didn't even think of them while we were talking. I did have a great time in DC though, all the other stuff aside. I went a day early and really enjoyed the museums. I tried to find a way to steal the Hope Diamond, but was out of luck. I spent 3 hours in the American History Museum after the Natural History Museum. I did more walking than ever. I also did a lot of shopping. Karen, I am right there with ya on the shopping addiction! Oh yeah!!! I now want an iPad since my friend got one...actually they got his and hers, but they are all sold out here, I am on the wait list. We are leaving for Sedona tomorrow. I was hoping to have it by then. But doesn't look like it will happen. Wah. :drool: We are meeting my sister and her husband, they are driving from Florida. Can't wait!! Yay! Well, ok, been on my feet for over an hour and I am still upright...it figures!

Oh, that totally sux! There are some good examples of appeals letters on the web. The book Weight Loss Surgery for Dummies also has some good advice. Also check out obesitylaw.com they are an advocacy web site that might be able to help, too, if you need it. I was denied to see my surgeon for a consult due to lack of a 6 month supervised diet. I gave them weight watchers records and personal journal entries along with medical history and other diet attempts with weight losses and gains over the years. I explained another diet would do little to help. I won the appeal. It still took ages to get the other tests and things done, but I didn't have to wait 6 MORE months for a consult. Best wishes to you!

Hi There, I believe they have 30 days to respond. I had the holidays thrown in during mine, so it took 5-6 weeks before I heard. Best wishes for a speedy positive response!

And ignorance is bliss!! :confused:

My surgeon does not want ANY of my calories coming from liquids, because they do not satsify for any real length of time. Calcium and Vitamin D can be supplemented. That said, I explained to him my LOVE of milk with my dinner. He said it would be fine if I had a small glass. He also did not give me the no drinking with a meal rule. He just said that I might not have room for it, and to try it and see how it goes. Generally I don't drink much with meals, but I also can't tell much difference either way.

Oh, and AFMom, the rule of thumb I was given post op was 1 oz of liquid every 15 minutes or so. Hope that helps!

Hi AFMom! Welcome! Exercise, as you can tolerate, just no heavy lifting for 4-6 weeks or as your surgeon advised, but walking is great post-op. It really helps the gas pains. I wore a path in our hallway carpet. Water, sip sip sip, was my instruction. Don't gulp. Sometimes it comes right back up for me if I gulp (this is with restriction--but is a good habit to get used to). My PCP says he wants me drinking 3-4 liters a day. So that means constant sipping all day long, with the exception of your surgeons rules around food. Everyone...I have an NSV. I have been in DC this whole week for meetings. I hung out with some work folk after hours. They dragged me around....and around....and around..... Y'all know I HATE exercise...BUT...one of the ladies told me about www.mapmyrun.com , it gives you a clickable map that tells you how far you walked/ran. I checked out our route from one evening and it was 3.5 miles! I did it with some pain in my legs, but I DID IT!!! That is something I would not have been able to do 2 years ago. Last night I did a night monument tour, I climbed the steps to the Lincoln Memorial without getting totally winded. Oh yeah, I'd say this surgery was worth it!!! Woot Woot!!! How awesome is that??? OH yeah!!!!

Yes, my health care company is Sharp. They advertise all about how wonderful the "Sharp Experience" is. And usually their customer service is very good. But in my complaint, I told them that in this case, my Sharp Experience was a Sharp Stick in the Eye!